Grilled Shrimp with Black Bean Salad

I made this for dinner tonight after Mike & I walked almost 5 miles around Lady Bird Lake. This is a super easy and quick meal to put together. I marinate the shrimp while I am chopping the salad ingredients, throw the shrimp on the grill and by the time you have half a glass of wine, the shrimp is ready. I buy the large frozen peeled, deveined shrimp from Costco to save time.

This recipe makes a generous amount of black bean salad for two.

Shrimp

1 lb large shrimp, peeled & deveined
1 t olive oil
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t lemon pepper
pinch of red pepper flakes
salt (to taste)

Place the shrimp in a medium sized bowl. Add all other ingredients, stir well to coat the shrimp and set aside for 15 minutes. When ready to grill, place on skewers and grill until done (about 3 -5 minutes per side).

Black Bean Salad

15 oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup red or yellow pepper, diced
1 large garlic clove, minced
small cucumber, peeled and cut into large dice
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1 avocado, diced
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1 T cilantro, chopped fine
1 T olive oil
3/4 t cumin
juice of one lime
salt & pepper to taste

Into a medium bowl, whisk olive, cumin, lime juice and salt and pepper. Add other ingredients, stir gently to combine. Serve immediately .

**Note - I sometimes add diced mango or a handful of corn to the recipe. It would also be nice with minced jalapeno mixed into it.

Skyline Chili Lentils

A while back, I bookmarked this recipe to try. I finally got around to it when the Bengals season started. You may think chopping and preparing a long list of ingredients is insane, but when you live 1200 miles away from the nearest Skyline chili parlor, well lets just say desperate times call for desperate measures. I'm calling this recipe Skyline Chili Lentils because as any good Cincinnatian knows, if you have "Cincinnati style" chili - it is Skyline. Preferrably followed by a trip to Graeters... but I digress.

This is wonderful served over whole wheat spaghetti, topped with cheese and onions ("three way" style as they say in the 'nati). My husband says it is the best Cincinnati style recipe I've tried. The bonus is the lentils are high in fiber, low in fat, inexpensive and good for you.

Cincinnati Chili Lentils

1 C. dry lentils (any variety, I used French green lentils)
2.5 C. chicken broth
1 can of mild Rotel tomatoes
1 garlic clove, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 t. cocoa
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. allspice
1 t. cumin
1 t. chili powder
1 t. paprika
1/2 t. cayenne (or to taste)
1 t. sugar
1 t. vinegar
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Add lentils and chicken broth to medium sauce pan, bring to a boil and then reduce heat and let simmer for 15 minutes.

Add all other ingredients and simmer for 45 minutes. Serve over whole wheat pasta, with chopped onions and sharp cheddar cheese.

Makes 6 servings.

Corn, Tomato & Bacon Tart

Corn, Tomato & Bacon Tart

The latest issue of Eating Well has a corn and tomato tart recipe listed that looks pretty darn good. Except they didn't use any bacon and bacon is pretty much essential if you ask me.

So I tried their recipe and I added bacon, shallots and made a few other changes. This is a keeper, especially in the summer when you can get (or grow) really good tomatoes and fresh corn. You could easily serve this with a big salad (I grilled salmon to go with).

Here is the original recipe from Eating Well and listed below is my twist on it:

Crust:
3/4 C whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 C all purpose flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1/3 C olive oil
5 T cold water

Filling:
2 slices of bacon
1 shallot, minced
1/2 C Parmesan cheese, grated
3 large eggs
1 C low-fat milk
1/2 C shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
2 -3 tomatoes, sliced
2 ears of fresh corn
1 T fresh chopped basil
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper

To prepare crust: Combine whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add the oil and water gradually, stirring until a soft dough is formed. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400. Roll the dough out into a circle and place in a 9" deep pie plate. Line the pie plate with aluminum foil or parchment paper and weight down with beans or pie weights (I used metal measuring cups). Bake for 20 minutes, remove the pie weights and aluminum foil and let the crust cool down for at least 10-15 minutes.

To prepare filling: Chop bacon into cubes and cook over medium heat until crisp. Remove from the skillet and add the shallots. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until the shallots are soft. Set aside.
Shuck the corn and cut the kernels off. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together and mix in the bacon and shallots. Sprinkle half of the Cheddar cheese over the crust and place half the tomatoes over the cheese. Sprinkle the corn over the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the remaining Cheddar cheese and top with the remaining tomatoes. Pour the egg mixture over the tomatoes. Season with more salt and pepper. Sprinkle the basil and Parmesan cheese all over the top of the pie.

Bake for 40 -50 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. Let rest for 20 minutes before serving.

Slow Cooked Pork Tingas

This is a Rick Bayless recipe from his superb cookbook Mexican Everyday. This is so easy and the flavors are amazing for so little work. I am lazy and I don't prepare the optional last step Rick suggests (draining off the pan drippings, boiling those down, frying chorizo and mixing it all together yada yada). I take the lazy cook's route and eat this after the pork has cooked down to tender deliciousness. Pork tingas make excellent tacos. After I cook the tingas, I serve them on warm corn tortillas with goat cheese, avocado and cilantro.

Slow Cooked Pork Tingas

2 lbs boneless pork shoulder (I used Boston butt) trimmed of fat and cut into cubes
2 cans of diced fire roasted tomatoes (use one 28 oz can or two 15 oz cans)
1-2 chipotle chiles en adobo - cut into strips
1 T chipotle chiles adobo sauce
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 t dried oregano (I used Mexican oregano)
3 garlic cloves minced
1-2 yellow onions, diced
4 Yukon gold or red potatoes, cut into chunks
Salt & pepper

Into the bottom of a slow cooker, spread out the potatoes and cover them with the chunks of pork. In a medium bowl, mix together the canned tomatoes, chipotle peppers, the adobo sauce, garlic, oregano, Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Pour the mixture over the pork.
Cook on low for about 8 hours or until the meat is falling apart tender.
Drain the pan drippings off and discard. Gently shred the pork. Serve the pork/potato mixture on warmed corn tortillas topped with goat cheese, avocado, cilantro and red onions. You could substitute Mexican queso fresco or feta cheese in place of the goat cheese.

Makes several servings (about 10?). Leftovers are great.

Watermelon Margaritas

This is an easy summer drink to whip up when watermelons are plentiful. It is sweet and fruity with a nice kick of tequila. My husband (who doesn't especially like watermelon) sucked down four of these the first time I made them.

Watermelon Margaritas

1/2 C. sugar
1/2 C. water
2 C. seedless watermelon, chopped into chunks
1/4 C. lime juice (about 2, juiced)
1/4 C. triple sec
2/3 C. tequila
Ice

Place sugar and water into a small pan and bring the pan up to a boil, let the water/sugar mixture boil for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

Place the watermelon chunks, lime, triple sec and tequila into a blender and whirl it up. Add the cooled sugar syrup and a handful of ice, blend well. Serve on the rocks, makes about 4 large or 6 average sized servings.

Apricot & Peach Cream Tart

Well, it has been awhile. I can't believe two months have passed since I posted anything. I've been busy. The weather has been so nice in Austin, so when I haven't been working I've tried to get outside as much as possible. Plus I have a crappy camera, so I'm also using that as an excuse for the lack of recipes.

A couple of weeks ago at the farmers market, several farmers offered Texas peaches. Peaches in May are unheard of for this Ohio girl. I found one stand with peaches and apricots. Oh my, I love apricots. I bought enough to make a tart. The key to this tart is the incredible butter crust. It reminds me of shortbread cookies, crumbly, buttery and sweet. This has been my go to tart crust for years, it is nice baked and stuffed with fruit or lemon curd. You can do many things with this crust. So if you don't like apricots and peaches (and really who doesn't?), at least try the crust.


Apricot & Peach Cream Tart

Crust Ingredients:

1 + 1/2 C. all purpose flour
1/4 C. sugar
1/2 C. butter, cut into cubes
1 egg yolk
1/2 t. vanilla
pinch salt

Place all ingredients into a food processor and whirl it up until the dough is a uniform, crumbly consistency. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a tart pan with a removable bottom. Par bake at 325 for 25 minutes or until golden brown in color. Remove from oven and prepare filling.

crust, prior to baking

Tart Filling:

3 - 4 peaches, peeled and sliced
10 apricots, pitted and sliced
1/2 C. sugar
1/4 C. brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 C. sour cream
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/4 C. chopped almonds

Combine eggs, sour cream and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Beat well and pour into the par baked tart crust. In another bowl gently combine the fruit, remaining sugars, cinnamon and nutmeg. Spread over the top of the tart and scatter the chopped almonds on top.

tart, prior to baking

tart, after baking

Bake at 325 for 45 - 50 minutes or until the custard looks done. Allow the tart to cool for at least an hour and remove the sides of the tart pan. Serve immediately.

Mocha Fudge Pots

I try to limit sweets to weekends, although from reading this blog you might think otherwise. I have a huge sweet tooth. This is the kind of thing you make on a Saturday night or if you are having company over. I pulled this recipe out of Food & Wine Magazine some years back and I never got around to making it. A couple of weeks ago when my husband was running around SxSW like a crazy fool, I took the opportunity to try this out.
Food & Wine call this a chocolate pudding, but it is very dense, thick and rich. More like a chocolate pot. It is very easy to make, you can use a food processor or even a blender to whip this up. Literally takes minutes (plus the chill time).

Mocha Fudge Pots

1/2 cup heavy cream
2 t instant espresso powder
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips)
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 t vanilla
pinch of salt
fresh whipped cream (for serving).

In a small saucepan, bring the cream and espresso powder to a boil over medium high heat.

Espresso powder in heavy cream

Meanwhile in a food processor, grind the chocolate and sugar until fine. Add the egg, vanilla ans salt and pulse until it forms a paste. With the machine on, slowly pour in the hot cream in a steady stream. Blend until silky, thick and creamy (about 1 minute).

Transfer the pudding into small ramekins (6 oz size or smaller, demitasse cups would be cute for this also). Transfer to the fridge and let set until firm, about one hour or overnight.

Garnish with fresh whipped cream and serve.


Makes about 4 servings.